Look what I found !!

I got this lathe from a guy I meet when I went to have the front brakes put on my wifes car. Its a 1956 Craftsman with a 12 inch rest(sweep?) and 39 inches from point to point. I consider myself very lucky to have found this deal. Paid $120 for the lathe, stand, knives, calipers, 2 different size plates, AND about 100 pieces of walnut, maple, and oak spildles. The wood varies in size from 3 foot long to 10 inches, most being 1 1/4” x1”. I dont know for sure but Im guessing the wood alone was worth the $120.
The lathe works fine and dandy but could use some cleaning up, which I plane to do ( if I can quit playing with it long enough ). Ive touched up the edges of the knives and the are great.Now all I have to do is figure out how to really use the darn thing to make something worth posting on here. Need a chuck (I think? ) to turn some bowls and plates, which is really what I wanted a lathe for . Always wanted to have a good lathe and learn how to use it, so now I’ll take any and all help you guys can offer !!
p.s.
Also got a Craftsman shaper from him as well. Paid $50 for it but I have no cutters as of yet. Been looking on ebay for some that I can afford, but as of yet no luck.

Sweet. Nice spindle stock too. So nice to have a bunch of wood to play around with.

A few suggestions: Make a cover for that exposed belt. File the tool rest smooth. Old Craftsman lathes used a MT1 taper and Grizzly still sells cheap centers with this size.http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2009/Main/129Grizzly also sells a fairly cheap faceplate and insert, much cheaper than a chuck.

And there are a lot of nice videos on YouTube about sharpening and turning.

How would you like to make a quick $100, 150, 200 ?? OK, as I have suggested, in previous comments, is go take a turning class. If you can’t do that try the public library and READ extensively (ie don’t just look at the pictures) There is a lot that you need to understand and experience and trial and error can be a very pailful experience. Done properly turning can be the most satisfying experience. How about cost + $250

I got a similar deal on a very similar lathe. My suggestion would be to invest in a class or read a lot. Also, I was anxious to jump right into bowl turning before I learned a lot and I could have really hurt myself. I got lucky a few times before I got smart and decided to learn something first. Do this and you will get addicted quickly!